Journalism: Showing both sides of the story

While in Seattle over the weekend, I sat through a Friday showing of the documentary “The Control Room.” The film, which centers on the Arab news service al Jazeera , offers up a bit of information that we’re not accustomed to hearing in the United States: It shows Arab journalists attempting to broadcast the news in an area of the world not known for press freedom.

Now comes word that Iraq’s new prime minister, Ayad Allawi, has closed al Jazeera offices across the country for 30 days. The company’s crime: “They have been showing a lot of crimes and criminals on TV, and they [send] a bad picture about Iraq and about Iraqis and encourage criminals to increase their activities,” said Iraq’s interior minister, Falah al-Naqib.

In “The Control Room,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is critical of al Jazeera. In interviews he’s accused the Arab news service of broadcasting “Taliban propaganda.” Yet at one time or another all heads of all the Arab states have been critical of al jazeera for its reports. Even Iraq’s Minister of Information under Saddam Hussein, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, expelled reporters of al Jazeera from Baghdad, and at one time he called the news service “marketing for the Americans.”

Here’s what I learned in Journalism school: If you’re making both sides mad, you’re doing your job as a journalist.